A Summer with the Shiba Inu: a welcome change of pace

"A summer with the Shiba Inu" is the first game from Quill Studios based in Canada.

It's being released by Ratalaika on June 23 for PS4, June 24, for Xbox One, and June 26 for Nintendo Switch.

A summer with the Shiba Inu is an interactive visual novel. Choices matter and reaching one of the 10 different endings is dependent on the choices that you make throughout the story.

So here's the background story.

Sydney (The protagonist) a Shiba Inu works full time in Canine-da, but this summer she decides to head back to Shiba Inu Island! She gets back in touch with her old friend Max and meets a mysterious Labrador retriever named Quei-Li. With her friends, old and new, Syd rediscovers her old urban jaunts and favourite street foods. However, her fond memories of the Island perhaps aren't what they seem, as she gets attacked and sent to an ARina (simulated reality) where her past enemies await...

It's really difficult to give a review of an interactive visual novel. As there aren't really any mechanics to discuss and it would be far too easy to give away parts of the plot if we were to analyze the story.

So I'm just going to try and give my views on the premise, presentation and overall impression of the game.

The art style of the game is top notch, some really beautiful backgrounds and some well-drawn characters. The backdrops do get a little repetitive, particularly in the early sections of the game.

The animation of the characters are very limited in frames, but that seems an intentional design choice and adds to the flavour of the overall aesthetic.

While the story itself was quite compelling, it was the actual setting of the game world that I dwelt on more after I'd completed the game.

Was it set in an alternate reality? Or some kind of future long after humans became extinct, like planet of the apes, but with dogs?

If these dogs, created holographic mobile communication devices, why can't they create some kind of robotic appendage to get past the huge disadvantage of not having opposable thumbs?

Why did these dogs have the self awareness and modesty to put on a shirt or sweater, yet still leave their genitals on display?

Indeed how did they even dress themselves?

Overall this was an enjoyable story. I played through a few times to get some of the alternative endings. You can auto skip the majority of the dialogue, just stopping to make the important decision on subsequent playthroughs.

Not being a huge fan of this genre, or an avid trophy hunter, I wasn't that invested or incentivized to 100% the game.

But in true keeping with most Ratalaika releases, this is easily something you could get a 1000 gamer score out of, in well under an hour. Although I would definitely recommend giving it a proper playthrough at least once. It's a charming little game and a welcome change of pace.

This game was received for free review purposes. Big thanks to Ratalaika. As always my review is impartial and all opinions are my own.